Burley will bounce back

GEORGE Burley's strength of character will see him bounce back in the football world.

That is the view of Dave Allard, the Evening Star football writer who first interviewed Burley as a teenage trainee and has followed his career ever since.

Dave's last interview with the sacked Ipswich Town manager was carried out just minutes before he was given the bullet.

Two interviews which spanned Burley's near-30 year love affair with the club.

But there were countless others in-between and all were carried out in the same friendly but professional manner.

Dave said: "He's one of the nicest men you could ever wish to meet. Honest and genuine - if he says he'll ring you back, he rings you back.

"He's always available and always happy to help. His public relations have done him credit and I'll miss him."

Burley always gave the impression he was a man of steely determination during his stewardship at Town.

But Dave believes the axe will have cut deep into that flinty Scottish exterior.

He said: "It will have hit hard, but I think George Burley is the sort of person who will be getting a lot of calls from football clubs.

"He's very well respected by top managers – I know Sir Alex Ferguson thinks a lot of him.

"I don't think a manager's job will be too far away."

Dave said Burley's close-knit family life – with wife Jill to the fore – would be a solace as he faced up to life without Ipswich Town.

And he believes the history books will be kind to the Scot when they chart his time at the helm.

He said: "When the history books are written he'll come out in a good light. "The bulk of his signings were good and some of them were tip-top at bargain prices."

And the final word on Burley's future – it comes down to the nature of the man himself.

Dave summed him up by saying: "He'll be alright, of course he will – he's too strong a character not to be."